Device for dosing flush systems



April 1, 1941.

c. RAILTON DEVICE FOR DOSING FLUSH SYSTEMS Filed Nov. 2, 1939 INVENTO CLAUDE RAILQTON u ffl ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 1, 1941 orrics DEVICE FOR DOSING FLUSH SYSTEMS Claude Railton, Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa Application November 2, 1939, Serial No. 302,560 In Great Britain November 16, 1938 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for the purpose of automatically introducing a dose of disinfectant, deodorant, scouring or like fluid into the bowl or pedestal of a water closet after each flushing operation, and followin the last trickle of flush water into the pan or bowl.

According to a previous proposal, disinfectant or the like, contained in an elevated reservoir,

was arranged to escape in predetermined quantities after each flushing operation through an aperture normally closed by a valve, which valve was adapted to be opened momentarily by mechanical means associated with a float in turn actuated by the water level in the usual elevated cistern of the water closet. A disadvantage in this method is that after a certain period of operation the disinfectant or like liquid deposits a film of sediment on the bottom of the reservoir and particularly on the valve seating, which prevents accurate seating of the valve member, and leads to continual leakage.

The present invention is directed to providing a dosing device which is applicable both to the elevated cistern type of flushing systems and to those in which 2. directly connected flushing valve is employed and in which the usual independent flushing cistern and float-actuated valve is dispensed with. According to this newer system, the initiation of the flushing operation is 5 efiected by means of a conventionally positioned pushbutton, lever or the like.

According to the invention broadly, a predetermined quantity of dosing fluid is discharged from an elevated dosing reservoir into the bowl, pan or the like directly after each flushing operation has ceased, by means of dosing mechanism in the form of an endless chain-bucket elevating device,-the arrangement being such that the dosing mechanism is operated automatically to discharge a predetermined dose of said fluid each time the manual-flush-initiating means is operated.

The said dosing mechanism is operated by the rising and falling motion of the usual float controlling the water supply to an elevated flushing cistern connected to the flush pipe of a pedestal, or by the rising and falling motion of a float located in a separate float chamber connected to the cistern. In the latter case the said chamber is connected to the cistern by a restricted passage in such a manner that the water level therein, during the flushing operation, falls more slowly than the level in the cistern, whereby the operation of the dosin mechanism is delayed until after the flush has ceased. In both cases the dosing mechanism is operated from the float, or its associated parts, through a pawl and ratchet device.

I According to the preferred method, however, for use with directly connected flushing valves the said dosing mechanism is intermittently operated by a small electric motor, the closing of contacts to complete the circuit to which, is effected automatically by the normal action required to initiate a flushing operation such as the pressing of a button or the moving of a lever. More particularly the motor circuit is closed by a switch which is operated by a relay switch arranged to be momentarily energised by the normal action initiating the flushing operation, which action closes contacts to complete the relay circuit.

An apparatus for carrying out the method according to the invention consists of an endless chain-bucket elevating device located in a reservoir containing the dosing liquid and arranged to be operated intermittently by a small electric motor for discharging 'a predetermined quantity of liquid from the reservoir each time the 3 stant amount by which the dosing mechanism is driven forward each time the motor operates, is equivalent to one revolution of the shaft, which movement is sufficient to cause one bucket of the dosing mechanism to be elevated to discharge its contents down a delivery pipe leading to the bowl or its equivalent.

The armature of the relay switching mechanism is connected to a pivoted switch lever which in its normal idle position completes a circuit to the relay coil from the flush initiating means, and in its operative position, on energization of the coil, simultaneously breaks this circuit and establishes the motor circuit. Tripping means, operated by the driven shaft, are arranged to cause or permit the said switch lever to return to its idle position.

To enable the invention to be more clearly understood and carried into practice, reference is now made to the accompanying drawing in mechanism only taken on line IVIV of Fig. 1,;

and shown on an enlarged scale.

Fig. is a sectional view taken on' line VV of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional end View similar to that shown in Fig. 2 but illustrating a modified switching arrangement, and

Fig. 7 is a circuit diagram.

Referring to the drawing reference character I denotes a rectangular casing divided by a partition wall 2 into a reservoir 3 for the dosing fluid, and a chamber 4 for housing a small electric motor 5 and its associated parts. A chain-bucket elevator 6 consisting of two endless chains I passing around upper and lower pairs of chain sprockets 8 and 9 respectively, and buckets I0, is located in the reservoir 3 so that when operated by the shaft II, the said buckets discharge fluid by way of a hopper I2 and a pipe I3. The motor 5 drives the shaft I I through worm reduction gearing I4 and I5, which shaft is connected to driving shaft I5 keyed to the sprockets 8, by a universal coupling I'I.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, operation of the motor 5 is controlled by the interaction of a relay switching mechanism and an escapement wheel [9. The relay switching mechanism I8 consists of a coil the armature 2| of which is connected to a pivoted switch lever 22 mounted adjacent the escapement wheel I9 so that a stop pin 23 projectingfrom said lever, co-acts with the periphery of the escapement wheel. In its idle position, as shown in Fig. 4 towards which it is urged by the spring 26, the switch lever 22 bridges contacts 24, (see Fig. 6) while in its operative position, it bridges contacts 25 (see Figs. 2 and 5).

The circuit closed by bridging contacts 24 completes the circuit to the relay coil 20, while bridging of contacts 25, completes the motor circuit. A hinge-d stop member 28 actuated by a spring 27, is arranged to spring into position to hold down stop pin 23, so as to maintain the motor circuit and prevent any additional or unnecessary operation of the flush initiating means from interfering with the device before the shaft II has made One complete revolution to cause one of the buckets II to discharge its contents.

In the modified construction shown in Fig. 7 the relay coil 20 is connected to the switch lever 22a which carries two mercury switches 30 and EI. The lever 22a is also connected by a link 32 to a tripping member 33 adapted to co-act with 'a tripping pin 34 rotated by the shaft I I.

As an additional feature a fan 36 is keyed to the motor shaft 3'! and is arranged to discharge a current of airthrough an opening 38. A loose ferrule 39 is adapted to contain a solid and preferably volatile deodorant, so that the issuing air stream is odourised.

To enable a description of the operation of the apparatus to be followed, it must first of all be explained that the switch (see Fig. 6) is closed by whatever means, in the way of a push button,

lever, chain or the like, which is normally employed to initiate the flushing operation.

It must also be explained that as shown in Fig, 4., the escapement wheel I9 has not yet reached its position of rest.

As shown in Fig. 4 shoulder 40 has been rotated to a position opposite stop-pin 23, and switch lever 22 has been spring-urged upwardly or outwardly into the notch formed by shoulder 40 thereby breaking the motor circuit. It will also be noted that tripping pin 34 is on the point of clearing the end of hinged stop-member 28.

After the motor circuit is thus broken, the various moving parts come to rest through their own inertia, but their momentum i sufficient to rotate the tripping pin 34 just clear of hinged 'stop member 28. When this happens hinged stop member 28 is spring-urged to rest against stop pin 23, in readiness to be spring-urged over it when switch lever 22 is pulled downwards on the next impulse. These are accordingly the at rest positions of the several parts.

If when the above normal at rest conditions exist, the switch 35 is closed, consequent energisation of the relay coil 22 causes the switch lever 22 to be moved from the position as shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 2. In this position contacts 25 are bridged (see Fig. 5) and the motor circuit is completed. The downward movement of the switch lever 22 lowers the stop pin 23 and the spring-urged stop member 28 slips over it and holds it down. Closing of the contacts 25 simultaneously opens the contacts 24 and de-energises the coil 20. The motor 5 accordingly commences to rotate as the contacts 25 are bridged and rotates the shaft I I in the direction of the arrow for one complete revolution whereby one of the buckets I0 is elevated to discharge its contents down the pipe I3. It will be understood that the buckets II] are so spaced that one revolution of the shafts II and I6 is just sufficient to elevate and discharge one bucket. It will be noted that the contour of the periphery of the escapement wheel I9 curves inwardly to 'form the shoulder 40.

The result of this construction is that the stop pin 23 at the end of this revolution, springs into the notch formed by the shoulder 45 and allows the switch lever 22 to rise and break the motor circuit between contacts 25. The arrangement is such that just before the shoulder 40 reaches the stop pin 23, stop member 28 is kicked away from engagement with said step pin by rotating movement of the tripping pin 36.

Spring urged stop pin 23 now rests on periphery of escapement wheel I 9 as shown in Fig. 2. Stoppin 23 is fractionally higher now than when held by stop member 28 but this movement is not sufficient to break contacts 25, and escapement wheel I9 still rotates until stop pin 23 springs up into the notch formed by shoulder M], thereby breaking contacts 25.

The momentum of the moving parts, after contacts 25 are broken, is sufficient to rotate the tripping pin 34 past the hinged stop member 28 so that said stop member rests against the stop pin 23 in readiness for'the next closing of switch 35. From the above description it will be understood that the moving parts always come to rest in practically the same position, so that the discharge. of the contents of a bucket I0 is always timed to take place within a practically constant time interval after the switch 35 has been operated. The timing of the discharge of a dose is consequently determined by the position of a bucket ID in relation to the shoulder 40 and the tripping pin 34, both of which relationships can be adjusted within limits to suit varying conditions of operation. It must also be understood that the arrangement is such that the time required for a complete revolution of the shaft ll, exceeds the time taken for a flushing operation so that discharge of a dose takes place after the flush has ceased.

To facilitate filling and tipping, the shafts supporting the buckets ID on the chains 1, are provided with cranked ends 45 which co-act with curved guide plates 46 for bucket tilting purposes.

In the modification of the switching mechanism shown in Fig. 7, the relay coil 20 is connected to a switch lever 22a pivoted about the shaft II and carrying the two mercury switches 30 and 3|. In this case the mercury switch 30 corresponds to the contacts 24, while the mercury switch 3| corresponds to the contacts 25. When the coil 20 in this construction is energised the switch lever 22a is swung over so as to cause the switch 3| to close, thereby completing the motor circuit. In this position the tripping member 33, pivoted about its pin 42, is moved by the connecting link 32 so that its free end lies in the path of the rotating tripping pin 34. It is to be understood that the several movable parts remain in their respective positions by the action of gravity. In Fig. '7 the shaft II is rotated in a clockwise direction so that when tripping pin 34 reaches a certain point it contacts with the free end of the tripping member 33 and trips it back to its position as shown in Fig. '7, which action breaks the motor circuit and the rotating parts come to rest. As in the previously described modification the shaft H is connected to the dosing mechanism 6.

The invention may also be applied to waste intakes such as sluice basins, sinks, and the like. In these applications dosing is arranged to take place at the direction of the user, and not regularly following each flushing operation. Operation of the device is then effected by a conveniently placed push button which is arranged to close the equivalent of the switch.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for automatically introducing a predetermined quantity of liquid disinfectant or the like into a water-closet bowl or similar receptacle having means for flushing the same, comprising a reservoir for said liquid, endless chain-bucket devices disposed in said reservoir for elevating therefrom and discharging into said bowl a predetermined quantity of said liquid disinfectant, means including a motor driven shaft controlled by said bowl flushing means for actuating said elevating and discharging devices, said actuating means further including electromechanical devices for delaying the actuation thereof and of said liquid elevating and discharging devices until after the flushing operation is completed.

2. An apparatus for introducing predetermined quantities of liquid disinfectant or the like into a Water-closet bowl or similar receptacle having means for flushing the same, comprising a reservoir for said liquid, devices disposed in said reservoir for elevating therefrom and discharging into said bowl predetermined increments of said liquid disinfectant, a motor driven shaft for actuating said elevating and discharging devices for one operation upon a single revolution of said shaft, a time delay escapement device mounted on said shaft, a switch lever pivotally mounted adjacent said shaft and normally in one position included in a relay circuit finally completed by said bowl flushing means, said lever being thereafter automatically movable throughsaid relay to another position to open said relay circuit and. to close the motor circuit for driving said shaft for a single operation to actuate said elevating and discharging devices to deposit a single increment of liquid disinfectant in said bowl at the conclusion of a flushing operation.

3. An apparatus for automatically introducing predetermined quantities of liquid disinfectant of the like into a water closet bowl or similar receptacle having means for flushing the same, comprising a reservoir for said liquid, devices disposed in said reservoir for elevating therefrom and discharging into said bowl predetermined increments of said liquid disinfectant, a motor driven shaft adapted to actuate said elevating and discharging devices to discharge a predetermined increment of liquid into said bowl upon a single revolution of said shaft, a rotary time delay escapement device mounted on said shaft, a spring controlled switch lever pivotally mounted adjacent said shaft, said switch lever when in normal idle position constituting a part of an electric relay circuit adapted to be completed by said bowl flushing means, said lever being thereafter automatically movable through said relay to another position to close a motor circuit for driving said shaft and open said relay circuit, and means controlled by said shaft for returning said lever to initial position for a flushing operation and in readiness to again close said relay circuit when a subsequent bowl flushing operation is instituted.

42. An apparatus for automatically introducing predetermined quantities of liquid disinfectant or the like into a Water closet bowl or similar receptacle having means for flushing the same, comprising a reservoir for said liquid, endless chain-bucket devices disposed in said reservoir for elevating therefrom and discharging into said bowl predetermined increments of said liquid disinfectant, a motor driven shaft actuated by the means for flushing said bowl for in turn actuating said elevating and discharging devices for one operation during a single revolution of said shaft, a train of reduction gearing between said motor and said shaft, a time delay escapement wheel mounted on said shaft, a spring controlled switch lever pivotally mounted adjacent said shaft, said switch lever when in one position being included in a relay circuit finally closed by said bowl flushing means, said lever being thereafter automatically movable to another position to close the motor circuit for driving said shaft and also to open said relay circuit, and means controlled by said shaft for returning said lever to initial position for a flushing operation and in readiness to again close said relay circuit when a subsequent bowl flushing operation is instituted.

CLAUDE RAILTON. 

